Interior surface problem with new Toto Drake

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Whatnow

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We purchased 2 Toto Drakes with CEFIONTECT for a home we bought to renovate. Toilets were installed 3 months ago but home has not yet been lived in. Still working on it.

I recently noticed that the water line in one of the toilets was discolored. Closer inspection reveals that the surface from the water line down is extremely rough. It's like an unglazed bisque.

This is our third home with Totos, so I know this isn't normal. It isn't from the water, as the other toilet in that house doesn't exhibit this problem.

Two questions: is it possible for that part of the bowl to have missed being glazed in the manufacturing process, and am I SOL because the toilet has been installed for a while, even though it's been used infrequently and no cleaning product has ever been introduced into it?
 

Jadnashua

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Did they do any tiling in the bathrooms? A little rinsing of a grout sponge can do that, and if they used white thinset, you couldn't see it (as opposed to the grey stuff).
 

Whatnow

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There was tiling done in the other parts of the house, so thinset was definitely around. Are you saying rinsing the sponge deposited something temporarilyy (I hope!) on the finish, or that it actually destroys the finish? Is there an antidote?

The discoloration at the water line is bright green. More like a green cleaner color than the grungey green you might see on a toilet after years of use or lack of cleaning.
 

Whatnow

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Jim, can you please explain your thoughts in a little more detail? Thanks.
 

Jadnashua

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It's hard to say. I do know that people have been known to rinse out a grout sponge in a new toilet, flushing it afterwards so it isn't immediately obvious, but that it will leave a fine deposit that feels sort of like fine sandpaper unless it was scrubbed well afterwards before things cured. No clue if that was done. You mentioned green...what color grout did they use for the tiling?

It could be a defective glaze job, or it could be normal. How far down does it get rough? the majority of the bowl's surface should be smooth.

dump a 1/4 cup of vinegar in the toilet bowl and let it sit for an hour or so, scrub, then flush, and see if that does anything.
 

Terry

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In new home construction, workers sometimes use the toilet as a disposer.

When I was working on a bath remodel in a Seattle tower, they drywall guys used the bath tub to dump their drywall mud.

What had been draining fine, became almost unusable.

I pulled a bowl from a recent job, where the vinyl guy had dumped his floor adhesive down the toilet.

Of the thousands of bowls I have sold, I've never seen what you describe except for the rare occasion when someone had dumped floor glue down the bowl.
 
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Whatnow

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We have further information and questions about this problem.

We hired a cleaning lady to prepare the house for move-in. I told her the toilets were new and not to bother. She went ahead and used Mr. Clean and a sponge cleaner in the toilets.

We'll try vinegar next time we go over, but I'm afraid it's been in ther so long that the "sandpaper" effect is permanent.

You know the price of a Drake with CEFIONTECT, plus having a plumber install it. Multiply that X2 if we end up replacing the toilet, and you're over $2,000.

Do you know of any way to test the surface to determine if thin set was involved? I wouldn't hesitate going to the floor company to ask for reimbursement IF I know for sure they are to blame.
 
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